Hmmmm.............what to say about this book? Well, it's a collection of stories, strange, secret stories. An eclectic mix of steampunk, part fantasy, part history. Ms. Valente takes fairy tales and snippets of history, and weaves strange continuations on to them.
The wordsmithing is exquisite. Her use of language superlative, but somehow, the book left me a little cold and perplexed. As with any collection of short stories, some are more appealing than others, and some I regret I found almost incomprehensible.
Nevertheless, the words are beautiful, and Ms. Valente obviously has a remarkable imagination. However, probably the best thing for me about this book, is the beautiful illustrations on the book cover. They're exquisitely drawn by Rima Staines.
For those of you not familiar with Rima's work, check out my links, and follow the one to The Hermitage.
If you are into the unusual, and imaginative, then this book will probably appeal to you, but sadly, it won't be to a lot of people's taste
Rating: a disappointing 2/5
An extra 3 however, for Rima's artwork
